LAHORE, Aug 30: The president of Pakistan Gen. Pervez Musharraf has approved the much-awaited constitution of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and a notification to announce this will be issued in the next couple of days.

This was stated by PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf while talking to newsmen on Thursday. “The president has approved the constitution and after getting the notification, the PCB will implement it,” he said. The PCB chief added that he had two definite aims at the time of taking over the key post, one to implement the constitution and the second one being the introduction of corporate culture in the PCB.

The PCB has been running on ad hoc basis since 1999 and, despite many claims from former chairmen Tauqir Zia and Shaharyar M. Khan regarding the preparation and implementation of the new constitution, no such development took place.

Dr Ashraf, who assumed charge as the PCB’s new chairman on Oct 6 last year, also promised the implementation of the new constitution within the first 45 days of his rule.

However, despite the passage of almost 10 months, the PCB has had no change in the prevalent ad hoc system while several excuses have been put forward for the delay in the constitution’s implementation.

Meanwhile, the PCB chairman disclosed that the board had failed in making any contact with the prolific middle-order batsman Mohammad Yousuf in order to convince him to change his mind on joining the India Cricket League (ICL).

Yousuf alongwith former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat and Abdul Razzaq signed a contract with the ICL last week. The PCB, however, is keen on retaining the Lahore player in the Pakistan side and is making efforts to contact him in Dir where he has currently gone on a tableeghi tour with a religious group.

“We are trying to make contact with Yousuf but we have not succeeded as yet,” said Nasim Ashraf.